Surprise Party
by Malley
Summary: It's Lisbon's birthday and she is quite suspicious of Jane because he's been acting more unusual than normal. He is definitely up to something!
1. Lisbon's Paranoia

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own the Mentalist or any of its characters. **The only thing I do own is my birthday list that is full of Mentalist stuff!

**A/N: **With my birthday quickly approaching, I decided to finally publish this birthday fic. It's Lisbon's birthday and she is suspicious as to what kind of shenanigans that Jane is going to pull this year. This story takes place in three parts, so I will have the next chapter up in the middle of next week and then the final chapter on my birthday. Until then, enjoy the chapter!

Surprise Party

_Okay, here goes nothing,_ Teresa Lisbon thought as she cautiously opened the door to her office. She gave a sigh of relief upon seeing her office in the same state as she had left it the night before. She smiled and entered, closing the door behind her. Surveying her office again, she frowned. _Jane hasn't done anything to my office_, Lisbon thought as she considered what the untouched office could mean. _No pony, no origami, nothing! This could mean Jane has something else up his sleeve and that could be dangerous._

Since today was her birthday, Lisbon was extra suspicious. Jane had a knack of being overly dramatic with his birthday gifts and these birthday gifts usually found their way into her office. It was always something bright, loud or over the top, but a heart-felt gift from her blond consultant nonetheless. The gift possibilities were endless with Jane, which was a little frightening.

There was no case today, so Lisbon and the team had time to finish up some of the left over paperwork from their last case. Van Pelt had been typing on her computer, Rigsby alternated between eating and completing reports, and Cho finished his reports early, so he spent the remainder of the day devouring his latest novel.

Jane had been uncharacteristically quiet the majority of the day. He mostly slept on his couch, only getting up to make himself some tea. He brought her a cup of coffee and wished her a good morning when she arrived and then he retreated to his couch as she headed toward her office. Maybe he forgot about today. But then again, it was Jane. He knows everything about everyone.

Now thinking about it, Jane, nor any member of the team for that matter, had mentioned anything regarding her birthday being today. Last year, they had a huge celebration in the office. Rigsby and Cho had ordered pizza and a birthday case, Van Pelt brought in everyone's gifts that she had wrapped in festive wrapping paper (with ribbons and to-from name tags) and Jane placed 'Happy Birthday' wrapping paper on nearly everything in her office. They all liked to go a bit overboard when celebrating a team member's birthday. Because of this, Lisbon knows that they definitely all know each other's birth dates. Something was definitely up.

* * *

Later in the day, Lisbon decided that that was enough paperwork for now and to send her diligent little workers home for the evening. She headed out into the bullpen. Rigsby was eating, Cho was reading, Van Pelt was on her computer and Jane was sitting on his couch completing a Soduku puzzle.

"Alright everyone, I think that's enough paperwork for today. You guys can head home." Lisbon announced.

Everyone nodded and began to clear their desks, preparing to leave.

"So, Lisbon, what are your plans for this evening?" Jane asked, without removing his eyes from his puzzle.

Lisbon walked over and leaned against Jane's unused desk.

"Well, I have to file away those reports I finished before I leave. After that, I don't know. I might just head over to my brother's house and visit my niece and nephews. They invited me out to dinner this weekend to celebrate my birthday."

Jane nodded.

"Sounds like fun. Anybody else doing anything exciting tonight?"

Van Pelt, Cho, and Rigsby all glanced at each other and then to Jane.

"Not really. Probably just going to head home. Maybe watch a movie." Van Pelt suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds good." Rigsby agreed.

"I'll probably go pick up Elise and we'll go out to dinner." stated Cho, referring to his girlfriend.

Lisbon wasn't buying it; it all seemed a bit too rehearsed. Jane may be a decent liar, but the rest of the team surely were not. She was thankful that they were on the side of justice instead of being criminals because they would fail horrendously at it. Those thoughts aside, Lisbon decided to return to her office and monitor them from a safe distance (even though Jane would probably know what she was doing).

"Okay, well have fun everyone. I'm going to go file those reports now." she said as she left the bullpen.

* * *

As soon as Lisbon returned to her office, Van Pelt let out a deep breath.

"Oh my gosh, I thought she was going to see right through us for a minute there."

Jane put down his Soduku book and walked over to the rest of the team.

"Yes. Lisbon is very suspicious, so we're not off of the hook just yet."

He glanced over at Lisbon's office and saw that she still had the door shut.

"In order to make this work, we are going to have to work quickly." he whispered. "First, we have to convince Lisbon that we are all actually leaving for the night. I'll instruct everyone from there."

The three agents continued to pack their belongings and prepare to leave. As she packed her laptop away in its carrying case, Van Pelt said:

"As much as I love your idea to celebrate Lisbon's birthday Jane, I still feel pretty bad about not being able to wish her a 'happy birthday' yet. I hope she doesn't feel like we don't care about her."

"Nah. Mother Teresa knows that her children care about her." Jane said with a smile.

The three returned the smile (Cho too!). When it looked as though everyone was ready, Jane clapped his hands together and said:

"Alright, you guys head down to the parking lot and meet me by my car. I made sure to park it out the line of sight of Lisbon's office window, just in case she wanted to spy on us. I'll be with you in about ten minutes."

The team did as Jane instructed and headed to the parking lot to his car. Jane, meanwhile, made his way toward Lisbon's office.

When Jane walked into her office, Lisbon was sitting at her desk organizing the reports she completed.

"Hi Lisbon." he said as he sat down on the couch in Lisbon's office.

"Hi Jane." she replied, without taking her eyes off of her work.

"How much more do you have to do?"

"I just need to file these and then drop this case report off to my boss's inbox."

"How long will that take?"

Lisbon shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe an hour or so? There was a lot of paperwork to do."

"When you're done, were you planning on heading straight to your brother's house or were you going to head home first?"

Lisbon looked up at Jane curiously.

"What's with the twenty questions all of the sudden?" she paused, a slight smile crossed her lips. "What are you up to?"

Jane shrugged his shoulders and tried to give her his best 'I'm innocent I swear' look.

"Me? I'm just nosy."

Lisbon just smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Well, if you must know, I was going to head home first. I wanted to change from my work clothes before I head over there."

Jane nodded in response. He then stood up and said:

"Well, have fun Lisbon. I'll see you tomorrow."

Lisbon watched Jane as he left her office. She was feeling even more suspicious than she was earlier. _That was strange behavior, even for Jane,_ she thought. _He must be up to something. But what?_

_* * *_

Jane immediately headed down to his car in the parking lot where Cho, Rigsby and Van Pelt were waiting for him.

"So what did the Boss say?" Rigsby asked.

"Lisbon said that she plans on heading home first after she finishes with all of the reports and some other nonsense. So, that leaves us about…" Jane checked the time on his cell phone. "an hour and fifteen minutes to prepare."

Jane turned his attention toward Rigsby.

"Did you call?"

"Yep. I called while you were talking on the Boss. It'll be ready in about fifteen more minutes. I'll go pick it up and then join you guys to help set up." Rigsby replied.

Jane then looked at Cho.

"Cho?"

"Elise placed the order yesterday. I'm going to pick her up and then we're going to head to the shop to pick it up. We'll meet you over there afterward."

"And Van Pelt?"

"I have everything all ready in the trunk of my car."

"Perfect. Let's you and me had over there now and get started." Jane suggested to Van Pelt.

Van Pelt nodded and started off toward her own vehicle. Jane returned his attention once more to Cho and Rigsby. With a bright smile, he said:

"Alright guys, let's put this plan into action!"  
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**Reviews make great birthday presents!** Wishing me a happy birthday is good also :)


	2. The Truth

**Disclaimer:  I do not own The Mentalist or any of its characters. **Patrick Jane is on my birthday list though :)

The Truth

Lisbon yawned as she pulled into her driveway. _I'm finally home!_ She thought happily. She grabbed her briefcase, exited her car and then headed toward the front door. As she reached the front door, Lisbon went to unlock the door, but found it already unlocked. Since she always locked her door, Lisbon knew that something was wrong.

Pulling her gun from her holster, Lisbon opened the door and entered her house. All of the lights were off and there was complete silence. Not hearing or seeing anyone, Lisbon kept her gun out, ready to defend against a possible attacker. She quietly shut the door behind her.

Reaching for the nearest light switch to bring some light into the pitch black room, Lisbon stopped, suddenly hearing footsteps. She quickly flipped the lights on and whirled around to face the intruder.

"Jane?" Lisbon asked, confused.

Jane, with a bright smile on his face, spread his arms out and announced:

"Happy Birthday, Lisbon!"

Rigsby, Cho, Van Pelt and Elise then emerged from their hiding spot behind the couch, chair and from the stairwell.

"Happy Birthday, Boss!" the team chimed in unison.

Lisbon looked over at her team and the items that they carried. Elise held a bunch of 'happy birthday' balloons. Cho was holding a cake that had "Happy Birthday Lisbon!" inscribed on it in emerald and sapphire icing. Rigsby carried out boxes of pizza from Lisbon's favorite pizzeria and Van Pelt had gift bags filled with presents in her hands.

"Surprise!" Jane exclaimed happily.

He then looked down at the gun that Lisbon still had trained on him.

"You were going to shoot me, woman."

Lisbon laughed upon seeing Jane's horrified expression. She returned her gun to her holster and said:

"Well, when I come home and find my door unlocked and I hear footsteps, I tend to think that there would be an intruder in my house, not a surprise party. When did you guys plan all of this?"

"About a month ago. I wanted to do something special for your birthday, other than just celebrating it in the office." Jane told her. "So, we decided to surprise you with a party. Rigsby ordered the pizza, Cho ordered the cake, Elise got the balloons and Van Pelt made sure that your presents were wrapped perfectly and she helped me decorate."

Jane then pointed to all of the streamers and Happy Birthday banners that covered every available surface in the house.

"Van Plet was also the one who had the guiltiest conscience for not being able to wish you a happy birthday all day."

"I didn't want you to think that we didn't know or care!" Van Pelt explained.

Lisbon shook her head.

"Actually, you not saying anything made me more suspicious. I'm so used to Jane's over the top shenanigans that a quiet birthday is the last thing I'd expect." She smiled. "But I definitely appreciate it. Thanks guys!"

Jane then clapped his hands together.

"Well, let's get this party started, shall we?"  
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One more chapter to go! Cute fluffiness to ensue :)


	3. Birthday Gift

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Mentalist or any of its characters. **Still don't own it. Even though I asked for it for my birthday :)

Birthday Gift

After all of the pizza and cake was eaten and Jane had correctly guessed what each present was, the team began to wind down that party.

"So Jane, since you were the mastermind behind this little scheme, were you planning on cleaning my house of all the decorations now?" Lisbon asked, jokingly.

"Umm…consider the decorations part of your gift." Jane replied.

Lisbon rolled her eyes.

"You really want to be the first one to try out the new taser Cho bought me, don't you?" Lisbon told him with a deviant smile.

Jane flashed her a bright smile.

"Meh. I know you love me Lisbon."

* * *

A little while later, the team had made their way to their cars, leaving Jane and Lisbon together.

"Well, now that they're gone, I can give you my gift." Jane stated.

Lisbon raised an eyebrow at him.

"Oh, you didn't forget my birthday gift after all! But if you can't give it to me in front of the team, I should be worried then, shouldn't I?"

Ignoring Lisbon's comment, Jane pulled an envelope out of his jacket pocket and handed it to Lisbon. Lisbon accepted it and then opened it. She pulled out a small booklet. The cover of the booklet was decorated in marker and colored pencil and said: "Coupons for Lisbon!". Lisbon's nephew, Ryan, made something similar to this in his kindergarten class. The coupons were for her brother, Gregory, and his wife. The coupons were for things like: one free hug or one free pass to clean his room. Jane seriously could not be giving her something like this, could he? (Even though she sometimes believed that Jane was still in kindergarten and she was his teacher.)

Lisbon looked at him questioningly.

"Open it, Lisbon." Jane instructed.

Lisbon rolled her eyes again, but honored Jane's request anyway. Indeed, inside were coupons that Jane had made.

"Read what they say!" Jane encouraged her.

"The first one is a coupon for a free coffee. Next is for a free box of strawberries. After that is…a dozen donuts from Marie's." Lisbon continued skimming through Jane's homemade coupons with an amused smile on her face. "The next coupon is a free hug or kiss from you. I'm definitely burning this one-"

Jane then suddenly hugged Lisbon.

"There, now you used that coupon, so it's done." Jane said. "There's still two more coupons!"

"The next one is a free 'stop-Jane-from-talking' card." Lisbon smiled brightly. "I am so making copies of this one so I have a never ending supply."

"Funny, Lisbon. Each coupon has a single use, though. Keep going, there's still one more."

"The last one is for a free birthday gift. Oh, so this wasn't my birthday gift after all?" Lisbon asked sarcastically.

"If that was my only gift for you, I know I wouldn't make it out of here alive."

"True. So what is this mysterious birthday gift then?"

Jane then produced a small box out of his jacket pocket this time and handed it to Lisbon. She opened the box and smiled. Inside the box were a beautiful set of emerald stud earrings.

"They're beautiful, Jane! But this is too much-"

Jane stopped Lisbon from continuing her protests by waving his hand.

"I knew you would argue with me on this, so that's why I bought you stud earrings. These are a lot smaller than that jewelry set I bought for you and Van Pelt on that one case with the casino. I know you don't like to wear big, flashy jewelry, so you can wear these small earrings discretely."

Knowing that Jane was right (and because she secretly really wanted them), Lisbon nodded and accepted the earrings. Against her better judgment, she hugged Jane.

"Thanks Jane. For the earrings and for the party. This was one of the best birthdays that I've had in a long time."

Jane smiled at her.

"No problem, Lisbon. You deserve things like this and I want to make sure that you get them."

Jane then kissed Lisbon on the cheek and then quickly headed for the door.

"Jane!" Lisbon called.

Jane turned around to face her. Lisbon walked over to him and kissed him, on the lips this time.

"You know Jane, boyfriends do stuff like this for their girlfriends." Lisbon commented, understanding why Jane wanted to do all of this for her.

"You understood what I was getting at then?"

Lisbon nodded.

"Yeah."

They smiled at each other and laughed. It was about time that they found happiness.

"You know what else a boyfriend would help his new girlfriend do?"

"Yes, _dear_?" Jane asked, emphasizing the pet name.

"He would help me clean up the happy birthday decorations."

"Yes ma'am!"  
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**A/N: **Hooray for Jisbon fluff! Hooray for my birthday! I hope everyone enjoyed the story. Sorry no chapter about the party, but I never liked how it turned out. Instead, I decided to dedicate a chapter to Jane giving Lisbon a special gift and then asking her to be his girlfriend (or implying, rather). Thanks for reading!

Reviews make me happy and are great birthday gifts :)


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